Hinata's Glasses
by Shizuru-kun
Summary: Hinata needs glasses but an already low self esteem will she just feel worse? And it doesn't help she's becoming so confused about people she'd never think twice about her head becomes dizzy!
1. Chapter 1

**Hinata's Story: Glasses?**

**Genre: Drama (ish)**

**Rating: Teen**

**Summary: Oh no! Hinata can't see! She needs a pair of glasses badly. But how will poor Hinata be with them when she already has a low self-esteem?**

"Oh." Hinata blinked furiously. She had been having troubles see Iruka-sensei all week, but today was the worst. The proper way to throw shuriken diagram Iruka drew on the board was almost non-existent. However, she wasn't certain if not being able to see it was actually a good thing.

"Eww! What is that!" Ino shrieked.

Sakura laughed. "It looks like a demented raccoon on skateboard drinking a bottle of sake!"

Everyone else laughed.

Hinata blushed so hard she didn't even hear when Naruto made his usual stupid comment. Ino noticed Hinata's blush.

"What's wrong Hinata?" She grinned. "Was Iruka-sensei's drawing so bad you went blind?"

Hinata didn't know how to respond being in shock. What if his horrible artistic talent did cause her to go blind? "I, uh, well, I don't..." her quiet voice trailed off as Ino was already wrapped up in her own world, pulling out a compact and caking a few more pounds of make up on her face.

Hinata sighed and pulled out her notebook, doodling another Naruto chibi and Mrs. Hinata Uzumaki for the millionth time. At least she could see close up.

After class, the lone Hyuuga took her normal route to her house by herself. She barely noticed this creepy white haired guy staring into the women's bath that was on the way to her house. Than again, she probably couldn't see him anyway.

When she opened the door to what felt like a prison, she was almost bowled over by something with dark hair.

"Ha-hanabi?"

"Woof!"

Hinata barely had time to question why her sister was barking when a small girl skid onto the slick wooden flooring. "Did you just call that dog Hanabi? I am not a filthy dog!" she screamed as she attacked with the broom.

Hinata barely rolled out of the way when the broom landed. The dog was already out the door.

"Come back here! I know you're one of the Inuzuka's!" The little girl with unruly black hair ran after the dog.

Hinata questioned the girl's sanity as she head to the kitchen. Grabbing a can to make chicken noodle, she dumped the whole lot of it in a pot and set it on the stove. As she heated it, she wondered why it smelled strangely but she figured that maybe her sense of smell was going too.

As she dolled out the soup when it was done, she sat down to eat her soup. _Ugh, my sense of taste is going too._ The soup tasted like crap.

"ARGH!!!" Hinata winced. Hanabi was home.

Trying to seem inconspicuous, Hinata hunched over in her seat.

"That stupid dog got away! I swear it's a Inuzuka!" Hanabi came into the kitchen and sat on a stool next to Hinata huffily. She sniffed. "Eww! What is that?" Hanabi examined Hinata's food closer. Then she paused. Hinata could have sworn Hanabi was blushing before she exploded into laughter. "Ahahahah! You idiot! That's dog food! I can't believe you're eating dog food!"

Hinata blushed and ran to the bathroom to empty the dog food from her stomach.

Afterward, Hinata ran to the front door hearing Hanabi scream behind her, "If you see that dog, do me a favor and kick it for me!"

Kick a dog? Hinata couldn't do that, even if she could see it! She wandered around the side streets, tripping on everything possible and running into multiple people. Someone actually thought she was blind, by his or her comment!

Sighing, Hinata finally ran into someone who might care.

"Hinata?"

Hinata glanced up. It was just Kiba, one of her classmates. He was kind of loud mouthed and rude to Naruto behind his back. That made Hinata a little annoyed, even though Kiba was nice to everyone else. Hinata was a little surprised she recognized him, though it wasn't too hard because he's the only person she knew with a white ball of mass on his head that barks.

"Oh, hey Kiba."

Kiba seemed to pause. "Ya okay? You don't look too good."

"I'm fine." Hinata murmured.

Kiba looked at her oddly, at least that's what she thought. "Okay..."

They stood silently for a moment, just outside of the market area.

Kiba leaned in and sniffed. Hinata nearly jumped back in surprise. "Are you having troubles seeing?"

Astonished, Hinata stammered. "H-how did you know?"

Kiba grinned proudly. "My nose can sense anything!" Akamaru barked as though to back up his statement.

"So, what do I do?"

Kiba frowned. "I dunno. Go ask Shino. He always wears glasses."

"Those are sunglasses!" Hinata muttered exasperatedly.

"So? He might know more than me. I can just detect symptoms. I can't provide a cure. What do I look like? A doctor?" Kiba stretched and cracked his back. "I saw him somewhere in the market. It's impossible to miss him."

Hinata nodded. "What were you doing?"

"I was buying some dog food and trying to find one of our dogs. Have you seen a black dog?" Kiba added.

Hinata froze. "Uhh..." _I guess Hanabi was right._ "My sister saw it earlier but it ran off. Sorry."

Kiba frowned. "... Hnh. well, thanks."

They parted ways and Hinata headed into town. Halfway into town she was slapped in the face by something really painful and slimy.

"Sorry."

Hinata already blurred vision began to fade as things swam in front of her face. Someone with these two big black eyes like a bug's was staring down at her silently. Then everything went black.

XXX

"Ugh." Hinata woke up on a cot that smelled like rotten fish. Her first assumption was, that she was kidnapped. She jerked fully awake and nearly jumped out of bed when she hit someone. The person tossed her back on the cot. Squinting her eyes, Hinata tried to see whom it was. That black-eyed person was staring at her.

"Sh-Shino? Ow!" She touched her forehead. A small lump was growing there.

"Sorry about that."

"Huh? What happened?"

"I hit you in the head with a dead fish by accident."

With how serious he sounded, she would have laughed if her head weren't hurting. "Ah, okay... Why were you carrying a dead fish around?"

Shino pointed a box in the corner. Hinata could barely make out a huge bluish lump. "That was the fish."

_Fish!?_ Hinata thought._ That's more like a whale!_ "Uhh..." Then she noticed something weird with his trench coat. "I-is that an apron?"

He didn't even nod. "It's a part-time job."

Hinata didn't bother to inquire further. Instead she tried to remember something. ... "Oh yeah! Are those prescription?"

Even with her poor vision, she could see his eyebrows above his glasses.

"Hey, Aburame kid! Your break is over in one!" someone yelled from the front.

Hinata flustered. "Oh, I'm sorry! I took up your break!" She tried to organize her thoughts. "And I meant your glasses.

"No."

Hinata nearly sighed. She didn't what was worse, the fact that he didn't talk or that his glasses weren't prescription. "Well, can I help? As a thank you for making sure I'm okay?"

He didn't say anything; he just turned around and head to the door. Hinata felt depressed for a moment, then he came back. She looked up only to see a sudden white thing on her face.

"After my work, I'll take you to the optometrist."

Hinata glanced at the white fabric in time to figure out it was an apron. "Ah! Th-thank you!" She quickly tried to put it on, having troubles tying the string in the back.

The taller boy grabbed the strings from her and tied it quickly. "Hurry up." She couldn't tell if he was annoyed or not. But she did know he tied it a little tight. Ouch.

Going to the front of the store, the bald storeowner gave Hinata an incredulous look. "I'm not paying you too."

"Oh no!" she shook her head furiously, blushing a little. "No! I just want to help Shino. It's perfectly okay."

The bald man gave her another look and laughed. "All right. But his job ends in a couple hours. Will be able to hang in that long?"

Hinata nodded; ready for anything he threw at her.

"Well, follow his lead, duh!" he pointed to Shino who was already grabbing an oversized fish from a crate and tossing it in a tub of ice.

She walked over to Shino.

"Take a fish and put it here. Afterwards we have to cut them into edible portions."

Hinata nodded as Shino passed her thick black gloves. Tugging the gloves over her delicate hand she choked a little from the stench of dead fish. She was reminded a little of when Sakura had tried to hit on a guy, other than Sasuke, and he had said no because she smelled like fish. Sakura had turned bright red, but Hinata still didn't get it. Did Sakura work in a fish market too? And it didn't smell that bad. At least Shino never did. Hinata began to ponder what that boy must have meant as she grabbed a slimy fish.

"Eww..." she groaned, without meaning to. It felt so weird. Then she tried to lift the fish but was having troubles. It felt heavier than her! And it had to be six feet tall!

"That's a tuna." Shino muttered. He then grabbed Hinata by the shoulders and moved her to his other side. "Why don't you take care of the salmon?"

Hinata blushed, feeling useless. She then grabbed a salmon only to drop it on the floor. She then stared at it, uncertain as to what to do. Then the taller boy bent over and picked it up easily, as though it wasn't slippery at all, and tossed it in the bin next to the tuna.

"Like that."

Hinata was worried she was exasperating the boy and hurriedly picked up another fish. She then wobbled over the bin uncomfortably. The fish was still kind of heavy and she wasn't certain how to throw the fish so easily like Shino but she tried. After about five fish for her later, Shino had already gone through half his barrel. Hinata didn't let that get to her; she tried to double time instead.

She reached into the barrel again and shrieked. "Ow!" She removed her hand to see a small lobster looking thing pinching her thumb through the rubber glove. Her eyes began to tear up, partly because it hurt and partly because she felt useless. "I'm sorry!" she felt like wailing but kept it to a slightly above whisper volume. She could have sworn she heard Shino sigh exasperatedly as he took the little crayfish and popped it off her digit. He then tossed it in a different bucket.

He went back to his barrel and let Hinata worry about reaching into the fish container again. On one hand, she wanted to give up and claim it was because of the crayfish. She was tired and she couldn't figure out why she couldn't simply grab a fish and toss it in a bucket a meter away! On the other hand... She glanced at her hands, imagining how small and delicate she knew they were. Naruto never seemed to give up. He always stood up after falling with an even bigger grin on his face. She blushed but put her hands into fists. Even Shino. He had time to train and do a part-time job, he was tough too. _If others can be strong then so can I!_

Grabbing a fish uncomfortably, she then tried to toss it into the bucket behind her. Missing, she had to bend over and pick it up to properly put it back in the bucket. Then she turned and grabbed another fish and tossed it again. Again she missed. Again she put it in the ice bucket. This went on for about another dozen fish until she finally managed to toss one in the bucket properly.

"Yeah!" she congratulated herself and turned to see if Shino noticed. He merely nodded and went back to his pile. "Oh," she muttered, lowering her gaze. For some reason she wanted him to tell her she did a good job or something. She tried to shake it off and grabbed another fish.

XXX

After all the fish was put in the right places, prepared and set on display, they could finally leave. Hinata had bowed politely as she handed the manager the apron back and was surprised when he handed her an envelope.

"It's for a good job." He had said grinning. It was a small paycheck but it was nice regardless. Hinata thanked him wholeheartedly and couldn't seem to stop bowing thankfully.

Eventually, Shino dragged her away, reminding her of her vision. When they finally arrived at the eye doctor's Hinata waited patiently in a waiting chair as Shino signed her in. She kicked her feet under the chair absently, waiting for him to hurry up. When he came back, he sat across from her and crossed his arms.

"Thanks for your help today." Hinata nearly fell over from the shock of him saying something. They hadn't spoken on the way to the doctor's so it felt weird. "You did a good job."

Hinata then blushed, remembering when she had wanted him to say she did a good job earlier. "Oh, uh, your welcome. And thank you for taking me to the eye doctor. My dad..." She stopped. She didn't really want to tell him that her dad wouldn't have taken her to the eye doctor. He would have been disgusted and have said something to the effect of, "Hyuuga's don't need glasses" She sighed. _Oh yeah._ If the doctor gave her glasses, what would she tell her dad? She already knew Hanabi would burst into laughter the moment she saw her.

The two sat in an uncomfortable silence for nearly twenty minutes until a nurse came into the waiting room. "The optometrist will see you now."

Hinata got up and gave Shino a glance. He hadn't moved since he sat down and crossed his arms. She had an eerie feeling he might have been asleep. She then wondered if he was actually asleep in class most days too.

When she met the doctor she was a little surprised to see how young he was. He smiled brightly and gave her his hand to shake. He seemed kind of western.

"Hi, I'm Doctor Park."

"Hi, Park-sensei." She muttered as he sat her in a menacing black chair.

"Now do me a favor and read the lowest line you can."

"Uhh."

He then handed her a large black spoon looking thing. "Put this in front of your left eye and try."

Hinata shrugged. She couldn't even see the top line.

"Hmm. Alright, now your right." he scribbled some notes down.

Hinata was surprised. She could read five rows down with her left eye!

"Hmm. Alright." He repeated. He then pulled a large contraption attached to the side of the chair in front of her face. "Now I need you to..."

Hinata nodded and followed his instructions.

XXX

Finally, nearly three quarters of an hour later Hinata came back to the waiting room. She was surprised to see Shino still sitting there. She then figured he must have been sleeping. She nudged him gently. "Shino?"

"Did you pick out a frame for your glasses?"

She jumped. Maybe he wasn't sleeping. He certainly was disciplined. Hinata made a mental note to herself to learn to be that disciplined. "Um, no, uh. They have a pair of glasses they can give me now that are actually exactly my prescription so I'll be able to see..." she trailed off. "Uhm, I have a slight stigmatism in my right eye." she was lying; She was actually almost blind in her right eye. "But they said that if they can get my eyes to equal out, I won't need glasses forever. He said something about me being a Hyuuga will definitely help me too." She pressed her forefingers together nervously. "The glasses are chakra enhanced, and I'm really glad they can help me. And I'm really appreciative you helped me out. I'm not _unthankful." _She didn't even know if that was a word.

Shino interrupted. "Can I see the glasses?'

Hinata sighed. He found her out. She pulled the glasses from the case in her pocket. Embarrassedly she put them on. She was so worried he would laugh at her.

"They're not horrible."

That was an understatement. The coke bottle glasses with a thick black plastic frame made her look something awful. "Well, it's on my father's tab, so..." She adjusted the glasses. She was surprised he didn't laugh at her.

XXX

The next day, Hinata could have sworn every whispered statement and every shout of laughter was because of her glasses. When she sat down in class, she had expected everyone to avoid her but was surprised when Ino sat on one side of her a Kiba nonchalantly sat to her other side.

"I like your glasses. They look cute on you." Ino said with a smile as she pulled out her notebook for notes.

"Oh, uh, thank you very much." Hinata mumbled.

Kiba yawned and turned to Hinata. "So did you catch Shino? I think he head to the fish market for some food yesterday."

"Huh? Oh, yeah." she muttered.

"Like your glasses. So I found my dog yesterday. Apparently your sister had been feeding it which was why it kept coming to your house."

"Huh?"

"Yeah. It was weird. She was all flustered when I came to get our dog back. She was all blushing like and she seemed a little upset that I was taking the dog." Kiba continued, petting Akamaru as he reached for a treat. "Yeah, and it was really weird 'cause it was like she was avoiding eye-contact or something, you know? And then she freaked out when I patted her shoulder for finding our dog. Geez, girls make no sense." He fed Akamaru the snack.

Hinata blushed. He didn't seem to remember Hinata was a girl. Then Ino got angry because of his statement.

"Girls do to make sense!' Ino shot back. "It's just guys are too dim to understand our complexity!"

Hinata sank in her seat a little, letting Kiba and Ino have better aim for each other's throats. She then glanced around the room for Naruto. He was busy trying to get Sakura to sit next to him. He gave one of his cute little pouts that melted Hinata's heart. Hinata couldn't understand how Sakura could resist that, but she did.

After a while her eyes wandered from Naruto. Completely zoning, it took a nudge from Kiba to get her attention.

"Huh, what?" She was a little startled.

"Uh, hello?" Kiba waved a hand in front of her face. "I said, did you get your glasses with Shino yesterday?"

"Huh? Oh yeah! He took me to the eye doctor place so I could have my eyes checked. My dad wouldn't have taken me." She mumbled the last sentence quietly but Kiba could hear it.

"What? Why not? You needed glasses, shouldn't he be concerned about that?" Kiba seemed a little angry.

"Well..." Hinata remembered when she got home and how angry he was that she needed glasses. He had wanted to go to doctor Park and complain about how a Hyuuga doesn't need glasses. Hanabi had been quiet, which was a surprise, but Hinata had figured it was because Kiba came to get his dog back. Then when she told her dad that the Aburame boy took her there, he became even angrier, ranting about how it was first the Uzumaki boy now an Aburame. He asked her if she really wanted to taint the family blood that badly. However she was a little surprised when he calmed down and told her that at least it was an Aburame, their family blood was pretty good. She didn't have time to wonder about that when he told her to go train and skip dinner. She was still hungry, as she didn't even get breakfast.

Kiba nodded as though he understood her silence. "Okay then. I guess your dad must be a tough guy to hang around."

Hinata glanced at her desk and nodded. Then she quickly covered her stomach, which made the noise of a drowning rooster.

Ino perked up. "Are you hungry Hinata?"

"Oh no!" Hinata shook her head. "I don't want to burden you!"

She hardly finished speaking when Ino handed her a bag of crackers. "They're really good and filling. And they keep you thin!" Ino laughed.

Hinata took a cracker and bit into it, thinking about yesterday. "Ino, what does it mean when a girl smells like fish? Does it mean they work in a fish market?"

Ino nearly fell over from surprise and suddenly Kiba was very interested in his fingernails.

"Um, no, uh. Where did you hear this?" Ino asked, blushing.

"Well," Hinata thought. Did she say something wrong? "I heard a boy say that to Sakura once when she asked him out. And yesterday I was at the fish market, and the people there smell like fish so I was just wondering..."

Ino laughed. "Oh, so someone said that to Sakura. I need to remember that." she grinned maliciously. "But uh, it uh means, well, uh. Why were you at the fish market?"

Hinata paused and glanced at Shino who sat a few rows in front of her. "Um, I was helping out a little and I smelled like fish afterwards so..."

"Oh, well that's a different thing entirely."

'So Sakura doesn't work at the fish market?"

Ino grinned. "Nope." But then she frowned. "Hmm. I don't know how to say this so, uh." she motioned for Hinata to get closer. Then she cupped a hand around her ear, whispering secretively.

"Ah!" Hinata jumped back. "I, uh, I," she had no clue what to say.

"Sorry to be the one to tell you Hinata." Ino muttered and turned back to her notebook and purple pen.

XXX

On the way home, Hinata felt her face burning up. A lot of people in her class said her glasses were cute, everyone in fact. But then Naruto...

She covered her face embarrassedly. Her glasses were fogged so it was a little hard to see.

_"You look kinda nerdy."_

Hinata felt horrible. She had run into Naruto by accident after class and at first he didn't say anything. Then he said that he didn't recognize her at first and called her nerdy. She felt like her heart was cracking with every step. She hadn't made it halfway to her house when an orange blur stopped her.

'Hinata, wait!"

The blur ran in front of her and grabbed her wrist.

"I-I'm sorry Naruto. I should get going," she muttered trying to tug her arm away.

"No no! I'm sorry!" Naruto rubbed the back of his neck embarrassedly. "I didn't realize what I said until someone said I was being rude. So I want to apologize. I didn't mean it. I think they're actually real cute. I just didn't recognize you, you know?"

Hinata blushed and stared at her exposed toes in her sandals. "Um, thank you. Uh, who...?"

"It was Shino. He seemed annoyed that I said that and then Kiba got into it. I barely got away when Ino was ready to close in on me!" He laughed, his cerulean eyes crinkling. Then he got serious. "But I am sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I just said the first thing that came to mind. But don't worry," he grinned "you make the nerd thing real cute."

Hinata felt as though her head might catch fire with how hot her face was. She couldn't even stutter out a response. "I... I... I..."

"It's okay if you hate me for i--"

"No! I don't!" she said forcibly, and then stopped.

"Well." Naruto rubbed his head again. "I was heading to Ichiraku's. Do you want to come with?"

Hinata nearly fainted. It's almost like a date! "Well, I..." However, she knew she couldn't. Her father expected her home today after yesterday's fiasco. He was already being lenient by letting her go to the market after school. That, and if he heard she went somewhere to eat with Naruto, he dad would get ready to kill him then her. "I'm sorry."

Naruto actually looked a little flat.

"But I'd love to another time. I'm just busy today." she felt a little confidence seep into her.

"Oh, so you don't hate me?" He actually seemed relieved by that.

"Of course not." She then smiled, but then she quickly dropped it.

Naruto grinned. "Hey I saw you smile, cool. You should smile more. It looks good." He then stretched his legs. "Well, see you tomorrow!" He then dashed off into the trees.

Hinata put a hand to her heart. Wow. Wow! WOW! She just carried on a full conversation with Naruto!

She silently congratulated herself. Then she remembered something. She did tell her dad she'd be a little late to shop for food. She plucked up her courage and walked into town. As she neared the place that used to smell disgusting to her she stopped. She took in a deep breath and thought how good it smelled now. She then went to the side near the back.

She saw a blue blur headed towards her and ducked.

The person who threw it turned around.

Hinata smiled slightly. "Um, I was wondering if I could help today?"

The boy stared at her for a moment. Then the bald guy came from the back.

"Oh, hey it's you again!"

"Hi." The Hyuuga did her best to seem confident. "I was wondering if I could help out today too?"

The man paused. "Sure, go ahead! More help is always welcomed!"

Hinata went to the back to grab the apron and even tied it by herself. Then she stopped. She untied it again and went to the boy tossing fish.

"Can you help me tie this Shino?" she asked shyly.

He nodded and tied it, just a little tight, like last time.

Once she tugged her gloves on, she dove right into her barrel of salmon and actually let out a laugh when she tossed it into the barrel behind her. She turned to Shino to see him in what seemed to be what could best be described as shock. She then cracked her back.

"Isn't this fun?" Hinata giggled lightly and grabbed another fish.

She might not have been able to see or really hear it, but she could have sworn Shino had laughed as well.

**Shizuru Speaks: Yay! I hoped you liked it! It was sort of a cutesy story about Hinata with glasses. I really liked Hinata in this story and was really surprised how it came out! It was original supposed to be a comedy about her trials and tribulations with glasses but then it became all drama like. It also feels a little like romance because of her interaction with Shino and even Naruto. And I don't know if you could tell, but Hanabi has a crush on Kiba! Anyways, feel free to review! It would make me a very happy person. After all, I need a review as badly as Hinata needed glasses!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hinata's Glasses**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**Genre: Drama**

**Rating: Teen**

**Summary: Amazing! Part two! Originally a one shot, this story now has a second chapter and more to come! (I plan on making future chapters shorter than one since that one was a pretty long chapter for a fan fic, I suppose) This chapter revolves around Hinata dealing with feelings she had always taken for granted and experiencing feelings she never knew existed. What choices will she make? And what mistakes will she regret?**

**This entire story is dedicated to every girl who has been confused about and/or has experienced love and heartbreak and everything that comes in between.**

**Chapter two: Chasing My Tail**

Hinata sighed happily as she brushed her hair out of her sweaty face. She then sighed, annoyed at herself. She had forgotten to take off her leather gloves first and now her hair was wet with fish grease. Before Hinata could tear off the gloves or find something to wipe her hair with, the bald headed manager walked into the fish arranging room.

"All right, your shifts are over, you two! Time to get your paychecks!" The jolly man produced two bland envelopes from his greasy apron.

Hinata turned her head to the man and forgot about the fish mess in her hair but merely pushed her glasses further up her nose. Reaching behind her back she fumbled with the knot briefly, being as Shino still tied her apron for her. For some reason the slightly too snug apron had begun to feel like home. It was an amazement Shino had not yet refused.

Tossing her apron on the appropriate rack, Hinata hustled before the manager. Bowing deeply yet holding one hand to her glasses she thanked the man deeply. "Thank you, Ojii-san!" She straightened up and adjusted her glasses once more. The first time she bowed with her glasses on, they had fallen off from her deep bow. She was lucky that time that Shino managed to catch them before they shattered on the ground.

Grinning, the manager handed her the envelope. "It seems like yesterday you came by to help your friend here. Hard to believe it's been three weeks, eh?"

Shrugging, the Hyuuga smiled slightly. It was hard to believe. By now, she had forgotten how long it had been entirely. She cast a furtive glance at Shino who was setting his apron on the rack carefully as he wiped away some sweat from his face. Hinata abruptly blushed and looked away, uncertain why this would suddenly make her feel uncomfortable.

_Three weeks..._ She'd love to say that during the past three weeks, she had really gotten to know her co-worker and classmate, but she still couldn't. Of course, he was very courteous and polite, but he wasn't the type of person who talked much. She didn't even know why he worked at the fish shop! She stared blankly at the other boy as he bowed before the manager, thanking him for the paycheck. She didn't realize how intently she had been watching him until he was almost out the back door.

"Oh!' Hinata jumped a little, realizing how-- how _lewd_ she must have appeared. She blushed and glanced at the man she named Ojii; one of his eyebrows was raised as he had a small smirk on his face. Embarrassed Hinata ran out the old and splintering door after Shino.

"Ah, Sh-Shino?" She called out tentativily. The late afternoon sun had dipped low, below the roofs of the buildings before her, tendrils of bright light singed at the buildings silhouette, blinding Hinata.

Shino turned around curiously, the sun glaring around his body, a glint of light reflected off a part of his sunglasses.

"I-I was wondering, um. You can say no of course! I mean you might have something better to do but I was wondering if you wouldn't mind... I mean, it's not like it matters and I don't mean anything by it, of course not, but, uh..." Hinata paused and even through the shadows, she could see an incredulous eyebrow appear over the taller boy's shades. "What I mean is, uh, would you like to go to Ichiraku's with me?" Her voice began to fade at "Ichiraku's" and by "me" she was barely audible.

Hinata winced at the silence that loomed over them like a circling bird. Finally Shino responded, alleviating her angst. "Sure."

"Fuuuu..." Hinata breathed a sigh of relief, finally realizing she had been holding her breath. Before she could inhale properly, they had already set off for the ramen bar, another uncomfortable silence settling over them.

Walking behind Shino, she stared down at the roughly beaten ground, watching her sandaled feet walk upon her shadow. Her eyes then traveled over her long stretched shadow from the low sun. She was almost surprised to see it. Even though it stretched so far, it still felt so small. Her shadow was hunched and looked as though it wanted to run away. Especially in comparison to Shino's long shadow, Hinata felt tiny. The Aburame's shadow stretched far and confidently, dwarfing the Hyuuga's meager shadow.

Straightening her back, Hinata made an effort to seem tougher than the personality she normally seemed to show. She found it a lot harder than she expected, her back feeling strained from the unusual posture and when she tried to look forward instead of at the ground, her neck felt so limp that she couldn't possibly hold her herself that way forever. It took Hinata a moment to realize she was merely making excuses not to straighten up and that was enough to make her hang her head and lose her posture once more.

Hardly daring to uplift her head once more, she jumped out of surprise when she ran into the banner of the Ichiraku bar. Holding a hand to still her excited heart she felt a little ashamed that she had been so jumpy.

After seating themselves at the bar on some old yet sturdy stools, Hinata glanced around herself. There were hardly any people in there. There was a young woman at one end of the bar trying to order dango and an old man to their right, slurping down pork ramen. Otherwise, it was pretty dead. Hinata began to wonder what time it was and if they were actually let out early. Glancing around for a clock, she also began to remember something. _Oh, yeah, isn't this where Naruto wanted to go with..._ Hinata refused to let herself say "me". However, after shaking that off, she did wonder where Naruto was, then she worried about what if he walked in there. It was hard enough to decline him last time!

She cast a furtive glance to her left. Shino had his arms resting on the counter top as he glanced straight forward. Hinata also remembered that she had turned down Naruto to work with Shino. It took her moment to realize Shino had turned and was staring back at her. It took her even longer to realize he was asking what she was staring at.

"Oh!" Hinata blushed bright red, chastising herself first for staring and secondly for blushing. "I-I was just wondering, uh... I-I..." She paused to collect herself and make an excuse. "Um, wh-what are you ordering?" Her voice became very small and was hardly audible by the time she said, "ordering".

"Well," If Shino had been staring at her suspiciously; Hinata would never have been able to tell, "I was thinking about ordering the beef ramen. What about you?"

Hinata took a breathe in trying to calm her overactive heart. "Um, the miso, I think."

With that, their conversation died once again and Hinata once more felt really awkward. She was beginning to hate silence, the more time that went on. Finally the serving girl appearing from the back broke their silence.

"I'm so sorry for the wait!" she seemed fluttery and kind of new. Her nametag merely said Ling. "We just had a little accident in the back to take care of. So, uh, what will you be having?" The girl tried her hardest and a waiter smile but merely succeeded in scaring Hinata.

"I'll be having the beef ramen." Shino turned to Hinata, as did Ling.

"Um, the, uh, miso, please." Hinata murmured.

"All right!" Ling made an exaggerated swoop of her pen across her pad of paper. "Would you like some water?" Both nodded. "All right! I'll be back!" She made another outrageous movement, practically diving into the back room.

Once again the dull silence fell upon them like a heavy could looming on the verge of rain.

After a moment, Shino finally spoke up causing Hinata to take to surprise once more. "I'm sorry."

Hinata stared at him confused.

"I'm not the greatest conversationalist, and I know you're trying to start a conversation, but..." He trailed off and turned to her. "Well, I know you dislike this silence far more than me. So..."

And the proverbial rain clouds lifted, letting Hinata shine in the forgiving sun.

"Oh no! It's okay!" Hinata pressed her forefingers together. "I-I guess I didn't realize you might actually like the silence as peaceful." She fumbled briefly. "So, um." _Now what do I talk about?_ "So, wh-why are you working at the fish shop?"

Shino seemed to stiffen. "I just like having some extra money on hand." Hinata felt upset at herself. What if she hit a sensitive topic? Before she could take it back Shino continued. "Are you going home after this?"

Hinata noticed the abrupt change of topic and went with it even though she noticed Shino seemed to tense up a little more, but only after he asked her if she was going home. Could he be angry that she touched a sensitive topic? Or maybe he was beating himself up mentally for changing the topic to something personal himself. Hinata knew she would if she blurt that out. However she went with it, figuring Shino was a different person and probably didn't do that. "Well, yeah. My dad wants me home right away." Hinata didn't want to kill the conversation. "I, uh, have a sister too."

"Older or younger?" Hinata doubted Shino really cared but at least he was trying to keep the dialogue alive as long as possible.

"Younger." Hinata reflected briefly. She then smiled a little, recalling when she had eaten the dog food.

"What is it?"

Hinata jumped and glanced at the boy sheepishly. She didn't want to with hold anything but... She was also worried he might laugh at her. She stared at her lap for a moment considering. Finally deciding she'd say it was nothing, she turned to him, her mouth opening to form the words. Then she stopped, mouth still agape. He seemed to be watching her behind his glasses, but Hinata felt like she suddenly saw things differently. He wouldn't laugh at her. For some reason that thought seemed to float in her mind peacefully.

"Just something stupid I did. Looking back on it, it was actually kind of funny." Hinata paused as Ling had come back with water.

Flourishing the cups as though they weren't full of cold liquid, the water miraculously didn't spill over as she elaborately set the cups before the couple. She excused herself and explained the food would be a minute.

Hinata took a sip of the cool water, allowing it to slide down her throat, creating a soothing effect in her parched throat. Setting the glass down, she licked her lips, savoring the sweet water as she stared into the glass, gazing speculatively at the inverted view. She played with the condensation on the outside of the cup with a finger as she spoke again. "Remember that day you took me to the eye doctor, er, well, course you do, sorry, dumb question. But, uh, yeah, I was having troubles seeing and my sister had just run out of the house chasing down an Inuzuka dog. Anyways, I was hungry and wanted food, so I grabbed a can thinking it was soup. Of course, while it was cooking I was thinking to myself, 'Ooh, why does this smell so bad?' then I thought, 'Oh well if I'm going blind then maybe my sense of smell was going too'" she paused for breath. "So anyways, when I sat to eat it, I thought it had tasted weird, but well, I figured it I couldn't smell then my sense of taste was affected because that's what I heard before. Well, by now my sister had returned home. She came in asking what the smell was. Of course, when she saw me, she burst out laughing."

Hinata began to snicker herself, recalling even more vividly now. "I was eating her dog food! I still remember how it tasted too!" Hinata let a peal of joyous laughter escape her lips, but she immediately stifled it, feeling a million invisible eyes suddenly watching her though in actuality no one was.

For a moment though, she then thought Shino was choking. His shoulders shook and his face had a tint of pink on his cheeks. Then she figured he was laughing!

"D-don't laugh at me!" but Hinata had already dissolved into her own giggles. She knew he wasn't laughing at her.

"My, my, my, you two seem quite the couple!" Ling had returned with two hot bowls of ramen. Both preteens stopped laughing. "So, who ordered miso?"

Hinata raised her hand and Ling plopped the bowl before her and dropped the other bowl before Shino. She then excused herself, winking at the two.

Hinata broke her chopsticks and set them in her fingers and let them hover over her bowl as she spoke, her giddiness still leaving her light headed. "Ah, I have never laughed or talked that much before." before she could stop her lips from spilling the next sentence, her mind was already cursing herself. "I just feel so comfortable around you, it's weird." She nearly dropped her chopsticks in the steaming noodles.

She hardly dared to glance at Shino but did so though she hated herself. Shino was frozen. His hands were still paused before he could break them, and a red began to crawl up from under his high collar to reach the bottom of his sunglasses. He then abruptly ripped the chopsticks apart almost too harshly and turned his face away a little.

"Nn..." was the only sound from him before he dipped his chopsticks into the broth.

The Hyuuga felt like the biggest moron to ruin such a pleasant lunch.

XXX

Forced to sit through another painfully awkward silence, the shy girl with pale Hyuuga eyes cast down to her dinner plate at her home trying to stop thinking about the lunch she ruined. After the lunch, Shino gruffly excused himself and said his 'later' to Hinata, hardly looking at her, a faint residue of pink on his face that was probably from bottled anger against herself, Hinata reasoned.

Even Hanabi was quiet. With just them and their father, the table was so very quiet, like a heavy muffling blanket shrouding everything, even stifling the clink of plates and glasses.

"Um, father?" Hinata stammered after still hardly touching her rice and curry.

Her father, Hyuuga Hizashi glanced up from his own deep thought in what could be construed as surprise.

"I, uh." Hinata didn't feel the most confident about talking to her dad, but she had him or her sister. Or one of her cousins. And none of the choices liked her that much, but at least this was her father. "Um, is, uh," Wording was everything, "laughter a-- a weakness?"

Hizashi seemed to consider her words as he set some more rice and curry into his mouth. Chewing slowly he then seemed to think over his own words. "It could be seen as a weakness as it revealing emotion which a shinobi should avoid at all costs. What a person laughs at could also be seen as to what the psyche of a person is like as well. Laughter may also lower defenses and cause the ninja to make a slip up due to the fact that laughter creates a form of pseudo comfort of sorts. In essence, yes, laughter can be construed as a weakness." Hinata and Hanabi's father paused briefly. "Hanabi, did you make a mental note of that?"

Hanabi jumped a little from the snap in his voice. "Yes father." she then returned to her moodiness, staring at her plate, she had also merely pushed the food around like Hinata.

The dialogue then withered into death, just like most of Hinata's conversations. Though she tried not to care, it did hurt a bit that her father had not asked her why she had asked the question. It was as though why was of no importance to him, as though her why's and reasoning were of no importance. The feeling of no importance stung her a little.

XXX

After dinner, Hinata had sulked off to bathe as her sister did likewise. Hinata would have cared more about Hanabi's moodiness if Hanabi hadn't been so defensive when Hinata had questioned her concernedly. Hanabi's coarse remark back had caused Hinata to shy away a little, confused. _Regardless_, Hinata thought to herself, _Hanabi's problems are Hanabi's problems as my problems are my problems. _

Slipping her pale silken nightgown over her head, she shivered a little as the cool fabric engulfed her body. She plopped herself heavily on her bed, playing events over in her mind again. She then covered her face with her slender hands and nearly fell back into her bed, a bright red burn on her face. _How could I say something so ridiculous? God, he must think I'm a moron._ Hinata couldn't stop the embarrassment she felt, even after she had said something. It actually almost felt worse since she had more time to think about her mistakes.

_"I just feel so comfortable around you, it's weird."_

Hinata seriously began considering slapping herself. _Tempting, but that won't solve anything._ Hinata turned and set her bare feet on the cool wooden paneling of the floor in her small room. She ignored the still wet strands of hair in her face and stood up. She padded softly to her window glancing around momentarily.

She climbed out her window as nimbly as possible, banging her knee slightly against the sill causing her eyes to tear a little. Cursing herself silently, she limped out the window and around some carefully cultivated bushes. She tested her leg gently and found it was fine, just sore. _Well, duh, you hypochondriac, what you don't want to go to work tomorrow so you can avoid Shino?_ An evil voice whispered inside her head. She nearly shocked herself into giving a heart attack. That new voice scared her. It was so dark and cruel, it sounded like her father, Hanabi, Naruto, her cousin Neji, and worst of all, that voice sounded like her.

After setting her hand to her heart, she calmed herself. She didn't want to miss work! How absurd. She glanced about herself; she wanted more than anything to continue her way to her favorite place to think, and she really needed it tonight.

She walked along the bushes for a little bit, wondering why in the world she didn't bring her robe. Wishing for her fuzzy blue robe she finally came across the clearing she was looking for. Surrounding the clearing was plum trees and red flowers, all carefully arranged and planned. Even the sand was planned. Sometimes it bored her, sometimes it fascinated her; the control over nature humans could have.

She had reached the Zen garden.

It was a rock Zen garden to be exact. She loved the carefully placed rocks and raked sand that resembled the great ocean's waves. She carefully hopped upon the closest rock. _Land of Clouds, perhaps?_ She thought to herself almost sarcastically. The rocks represented the great countries but she wasn't certain which were which. She just knew the big one in the center was Konohagakure. Egotistical for Konoha to be in the center? Perhaps. But it was one of the biggest countries; Sand being the only one that matched it in immensity. Regardless, Konoha's rock was the one she wanted. It was the biggest so easiest to sit on and it was in the center, so in essence it almost could make her feel special without feeling as though she was being stared at.

Settling herself as comfortably as possible on the cold slab of rock, the Hyuuga prepared her mind for meditation. She stared at the waves until she got dizzy, pushing the worry of being caught doing this, pushing away her fears, pushing away her insecurities the best she could. This was the only time she could feel at peace to some degree.

She inhaled deeply and shut her eyes. She replayed her day on fast forward. She paused only on things that stuck out. The moment that stuck out like a bent senbon was her comment to Shino. Even now her face flushed and her chest seemed to hurt.

_"I just feel so comfortable around you, it's weird."_

She almost made to clutch her chest, as the pressure there was unbearable.She only felt something close to this when Naruto was around, so she couldn't quite translate this. Her heart wasn't fluttery; it felt as flat and heavy as a dead rock. It felt like it was being crushed on all sides by broken glass. What was this? Her gut and chest felt so painful and her head got a headache trying to stop thinking about what she said.

_What did Shino think?_

Hinata almost blushed at simply thinking his name. God, what was wrong with her? She seriously wanted to beat herself up now! How embarrassing.

She shook herself mentally and tried to continue.

_Well, his face turned red. He was probably embarrassed I made such an absurd statement._

_... Or maybe he honestly liked-_

_No._ Hinata cut herself off._ I can't even think that. I like Naruto! And above all else, why raise my hopes? Am I stupid? I like Naruto..._

Even to herself she didn't sound confident. She sounded liked a scared and confused little girl.

_I'm not confused!_

She protested against herself vehemently, knowing the tendrils of the other voice was just around the corner of her mind. She couldn't let that scary voice speak up. That voice told the truth, and the truth scared her too much, no matter how much she tried to deny it.

She cut herself off short. It was ridiculous. The thought the scary voice was trying to push on her. She slid off her rock almost letting her feet touch the sand when she remembered in time to jump rock to rock instead. She really disliked the idea of leaving an imprint as much as what the voice tried to tell her.

_Maybe you actually like Shino._

Hinata jumped and nearly let out a scream as the voice suddenly invaded her thoughts, causing her to slip on her rock. Expecting her head to crack open on one of the other rocks, she was surprised when her brains weren't all over the ground at that moment. Instead she was being held, caught by someone. For a moment she didn't open her eyes she had shut in fear, letting herself actually wonder irrationally if it was Shino.

When she opened her eyes, she was looking into the angry and slightly disgusted eyes of another Hyuuga.

**Shizuru Speaks: All right, the first chapter was so insanely long I decided to end this chapter short(er). Actually I wrote more for this chapter but I edited it so it was shorter. Oh, and to my readers, I'm sorry if it took so long, I've just been having a hectic year so far! I can't wait for 2007 now! Then I won't be able to wait for 2008 when I can finally leave my high school. Woot! Graduation '08!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hinata's Glasses**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**Genre: Drama**

**Rating: Teen**

**Summary: Hinata was having enough troubles confronting herself and now her cousin whom despised her most has found her in her most intimate of places. Oh the awkwardness... On top of things, Hanabi is asking for advice on... BOYS! Hinata can't stop her own head from spiraling off her body and now she has more problems to deal with. First things first...**

**Chapter three: My Own Problems**

Hinata shambled to school, her head down as leaves and flower petals whirled past her. Typically she'd stop just to watch the rain of debris fly and dance through the air gracefully. However, her stomach felt upset. Last night... Ugh, she didn't even want to think about it. The embarrassment was enough for her to want to cover her face in shame and hide under a rock for the rest of her life!

How could she just let herself be caught in the Zen garden? And by her cousin, of all things, er, people!

_No!_ Hinata asserted. She was mad, she was upset and she couldn't understand herself! _I shouldn't even call him human! What am I thinking? He doesn't even treat me like a human!_

She tried her hardest thinking of Neji as the worst things in the world but was having some trouble. She wasn't used to thinking of people badly. But she let her mind wander until her eyes began to cloud darkly so much so she could hardly see before herself.

"Don't forget to curse his penis so it'll wither and fall off."

Hinata jumped so badly she probably would have hit her head on the branches of the shedding trees if she wasn't walking on a path.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you that badly." The blonde girl tried to smile reassuringly as she scratched the back of her head embarrasedly. "It just looked like you were cursing a guy."

Hinata made an effort to shrug off the scare Ino gave her. "How could you tell?"

Ino laughed and tapped her head mockingly. "I'm psychic, that's why."

Hinata raised an eyebrow and pushed her glasses further up her nose.

Laughing, Ino brushed her bangs out of her face. "Oh wow, that was cute! And funny. You should do that more. You gave me the weirdest look that way. It was kinda unexpected from you of all people." Ino brushed an invisible tear from her eye. "Don't worry though, it was definitely cute. But, uh, yeah. About my psychic-ness. Not really, it's just," Ino braced the back of her head with her hands and tilted her head to the sky, "it's just that only a guy can put that kind of face on a girl. You break up with a boyfriend or something?"

"Wh-wha!" Hinata blushed. Boyfriend? Her? No. "Oh, no. It's not like that!"

Ino gazed at her. "Is it a crush? Or multiple crushes maybe?" Ino bent down below Hinata's head and glanced upwards into her face. Hinata blushed and moved her head to a side. "It is, isn't it? And... something else, but... None of my business, right?"

Hinata didn't respond, just keeping her face pointed to the ground.

"But, about these crushes, does your heart pound so heavily it hurts even through your chest? does your head feel like it's constantly spinnning? Does your chest sometimes feel really heavy and when you think about his face, the weight seems to lift momentarily until you feel embarassed again?"

Hinata's head sharply snapped up to stare at Ino who was grining brightly.

"Am I right?"

"How did you know?"

"I'm good at these kinda things."

"Good at what, being a pig?" Sakura burst in behind Ino. She turned her pink head to Hinata. "Don't listen to her, she doesn't know what she's talking about. But, this guy, does talking to him make you feel so incredibly happy and sad and shy all at once, like you don't want to do anything stupid before him? And when he speaks or laughs, your heart feels giddy and you want nothing more than that moment to just keep going on?"

"H-how do both of you know?"Hinata felt confused and a little claustrophobic between the two rival girls who'd glare at each other every other sentence.

Ino smiled sweetly to Hinata. "Well, every girl feels the same about things that come to the heart. Whether it's Love or Like. So, what is it for you? Love or Like?"

The Hyuuga considered things for a moment. _Neither. I don't Love or Like Shino._ She winced, just thinking his name caused her stomach to dip and twinge oddly. "I, uh, I--"

"Oh, you don't know yet?" Sakura asked. "Well, that's okay."

"Actually, billboard-brow," Ino interjected, earning a glare from Sakura which she was just too happy to return, "I think she's torn between two guys. Riiiiiight?"

"Uhm, well." Hinata paused. "I..." she hung her head. "I wish I knew."

Both of the other girls held off strangling each other to stare sympathetically at Hinata, wishing they could help some more.

"Well, we'll let you think it over." The two girls hurried to run into the school they finally arrived to. Both were busy trying to see who could make it there faster.

Hinata shuffled to the school, slowly considering what they said. She set a hand to head and closed her eyes. She felt dizzy and so very sick to the stomach. _I can't work today._

_Told you that all you wanted was to avoid Shino._

Hinata cringed, that voice had refused to leave her alone. That cruel voice... That cruel voice that sounded more like Neji today.

Her eyes snapped open. _That's right. Neji..._

_"What do you think you're doing here?"_

That cruel glare. She lived in the Hyuuga household so the pale eyes of Hyuuga's shouldn't scare her like other people, but Neji was the only one with the harsh eyes that could scare her. Even her father and Hanabi couldn't quite create that stare of utter hatred, sadness, dissapointment, anger and... and something else Hinata couldn't quite pinpoint. It was like fear and anguish, she would say if she didn't know Neji... or if she knew him better. Hinata shrugged it off, she didn't want to know or care about what was behind her cousin's eyes.

He didn't treat her too kindly when he found her the night before.

XXX

_The two Hyuugas were frozen out of surprise for a moment that felt likes eons to the smaller Hyuuga. Then the taller Hyuuga grunted disgustedly and dropped the smaller girl._

_Hinata landed in the sand uncomfortably as she abruptly tried to jump off the sand onto the rocks so that she might not ruin the sand to make it obvious someone fell in the dirt. Scrambling on a rock she glanced at the messed ground and then her cousin. He stood confidently on another rock, his arms crossed and one foot before the other so he could fit on the smaller rock. Hinata almost laughed ruefully when she recoginized the rock, remembering when she had pondered if that was the Village of the Clouds rock earlier that night._

_She then cast her glance away when she realized how shameful she appeared, a main branch Hyuuga, clumsily sprawled on a rock, glasses askew as another Hyuuga stood so confidently not even a meter away._

_"How pathetic. A main branch Hyuuga sprawled across a rock like some vermin. And to think, a Hyuuga needing glasses!" He scoffed rudely. "Of course we are talking about you. You'd find some way to disgrace yourself and this family title, and what better way than to need glasses. Hah! A Hyuuga needing glasses! Are you even capable of activating your Byakugan?"_

_Hinata's face burned deeper and deeper. She just wanted to melt into the ground and never come back._

_"And what's worse, the news I hear?" he sneered cruelly. "I hear you've been running around with an Aburame. What, now you want to taint the Hyuuga blood?"_

_Hinata snapped her head up forcefully and glared. "Shut up!" Even before she finished speaking she regretted it, but at the same time, a satisfied feeling settled over her peacefully as her stomach squirmed._

_Neji's eyes flared, he seemed to seriously consider kicking her or spitting. But he controlled himself, the fire in his eyes still burning though. "Oh, now you wish to talk back. You finally growing a spine, you worm? Why try now? Why not just let yourself stay the way you are." He knelt down to her level as she shuddered fearfully. He whispered conspiritorially. "After all, aren't you perfect the way you are? You don't fit in with a family with such a great name like ours, so why not just let yourself become more of a disgrace? Maybe one day people will look down upon you just the same way as they do to Naruto. Isn't that what you want? To be on the same level of scum as him?"_

_SLAP!_

_Hinata couldn't couldn't control her shaking then as she slapped Neji with all the force she had in her. He actually fell back a bit on his rock his behind and elbows smacking painfully against the hard stone. Her breathing came in heavy breathes, as sweat dripped off her face, staining the gray of the rock deeper and muddying the sand. Her head spun violently and she wanted to vomit. she had slapped her cousin!_

_Neji was frozen momentarily aas disbelief was playing in his blank eyes now. Then he scrambled to his feet as a red crept in his cheeks, probably embarrassed to be hit by someone he never considered a threat before. His face was so angry that Hinata shrank back, afraid of what he would do but gently tried to stand and not fall over from her shaking adrenaline pumped limbs. She hardly noticed that both of them had fully activated their Byakugans and that her glasses lay uselessly in the sand._

_Then Neji's face seemed to calm and before she could fully swing her arms up to protect herself, Neji struck her with his rigid fingers, closing a tenketsu point. She ggasped in pain and doubled over. Her rib felt as though it was on fire and she could almost feel the bruise spreading over the lower half of her right rib._

_Neji grabbed her chin and forced her face before his. "This never happened." He growled and let go of her violently, causing her to fall back on the rock. He then dissapeared so fast, Hinata couldn't catch it._

_Rubbing her injured chest she bent and gathered her glasses. They were scratched from the sand but they weren't broken._

_She rubbed a finger over one of the deep scratches on the right lens. She couldn't help but remember Shino taking her to the optomitrist and all that time and effort he put in to help her get those glasses. And now she had scratched them. Shaking, she didn't realize she was crying until a large drop landed on the lense. Then she let herself cry fully, letting the pain just wash over her._

XXX

Scribbling in her notebook. Hinata slowly let herself land back into reality. The large spirals and deep, violent scratches from her black pen were played out all over the notebook paper. The class day was almost over and once again she hadn't paid much attention to Iruka-sensei.

Eagerly awaiting dismissal, Hinata shut her notebook and sighed. Only a few more minutes to go and she could leave. However, home wasn't too tempting of a thought, the fear of perhaps running into Neji playing through her mind though she couldn't think properly so she hardly realized she almost never saw him on a daily basis. Then, she didn't want to go to work. She wasn't feeling good and she just didn't feel comfortable working with Shino today. Just the thought of being in the same room with him made her squirm.

But the thought of having to tell him she wasn't coming to work today didn't make her feel good either.

Finally dismissed, Hinata held back for a little, knowing Shino tended to leave near last. She rubbed her face, as though that would remove her blush and grabbed her satchel tightly. She walked up behind Shino and tried to clear her throat, but her throat wouldn't work so instead she reached for his sleeve and pulled gently.

Shinno's head whipped around quickly and almost defensively. Hinata forgot, Shino never let anyone touch him, so why should now be different?

"Ah, uh," She wished that she wouldn't be so shy and embarrassed. "I just wanted to tell you, um, I'm-I'm not feeling good today. C-Could you tell Ojii-san I cannot work today, please?" She averted her eyes, almost afraid to look at him.

"Hn." he grunted. "I-" Hinata glanced up, "I hope you'll feel better later."

With that he left and with that her heart nearly imploded. Just him to simply wish she'd feel better made her stomach drop and her heart pound as her head spun giddily. Of course when someone set a hand on her shoulder, her adrenaline pumped body jumped nearly a foot in the air.

"Oh, sorry Hinata." the person guided the both of them out of the class gently.

"K-Kiba?" She set a hand on her heart, willing it to stop going a million miles a minute.

"Yeah, sorry about that scare." Kiba smiled innocently, the red tattoos on his cheeks bending gently with his dimples. "I just overheard you saying you didn't feel good, and I," he coughed, almost embbaressedly, "I was just wondering if you wa-wanted company to walk you home. ya know, just in case you don't feel good and ya faint or something. Not that I'm saying you will!" He scratched his chin seeming to think, as Hinata was thinking about his stutters while speaking. "Hmm, don't I sound like an idiot." he muttered.

"Um, actually, that was really nice of you think of that!" Hinata spoke up. "Thank you for being concerned about me! I'd really like it if you'd come with me."

Kiba's cheeks reddened boyishly a little, then he laughed. "Yeah! Oh, and you won't mind Akamaru coming along?" The white dog woofed from under his jacket.

"Of course not." The two then set off for her house.

"So, uh," Kiba scratched his head, trying to seem nonchalant. "You and Shino work together or something?"

"Huh? Oh yeah!" Hinata smiled, her eyes closing. "Yeah, it's really great!" She then dropped the smile and smiled softly, glancing at the ground. "I'm sad I won't work today though."

Kiba stared at her blankly, his eyes seeming curious as a little of the ruddy color crept back in his cheeks. "Oh. Well, what do you guys do?"

"Hunh." Hinata thought about it for a second. Should she say so? Shino never exactly made it known that he works. Than again he never really talks to anyone. "Well, I don't know if he wants me to say..."

"Hey, I can keep a promise!" Kiba interjected, then he held up Akamaru's paw and his own. "We swear!" Akamaru woofed as though to confirm Kiba.

Hinata smiled and let out a chuckle, but covered her mouth with a hand embarresedly.

"Hey, don't cover your laugh. I like it!" Kiba grinned.

Hinata blushed a little but shrugged and let herself smile a little more easily. She brushed some her hair from her eyes and pressed her glasses up her nose. "Well, since you promised. Remember the day I had problems seeing and you told me to see Shino?"

"Yeah, uh," Kiba thought for a moment. "I saw him near the fish market."

Hinata nodded. "Yep, that's the place."

Kiba stared at her for a second. "No way."

"Yeah," she smiled and turned to him. "It's great. It's a lot of fun too."

"Maybe I should come by someday and check out your work."

"No!" Hinata asserted quickly. Catching Kiba's hurt and confused face, she stuttered. "Er, I meant, I don't know how Shino feels about my even telling you! But, other than that, I'd like that."

Kiba's face smoothed. "Oh, okay."

The two walked along in silence for a little bit. Hinata glanced around herself, feeling the cool air blowing through her hair and carressing her warm cheeks. _This is nice._ Hinata then stumbled in her mind. It was weird. It was only yesterday that pauses of silence made her feel so uncomfortable, but now this felt so natrual.

"Ahh, looks like we made it to your house." Kiba almost seemed sad, even Akamaru's ears were pressed sadly at the sides of his head.

Hinata turned to Kiba. "Thanks for walking me home..."

"Hey, you look better already." Kiba tried to smile.

"Huh? Oh, yeah." Hinata chuckled a little. "I guess you made me feel better already. Thanks for everything."

"Hinata!" The front door opened and her younger sister popped her head out. "Do you know where--" She stopped abruptly when she saw Kiba. Her face seemed a little red and she covered her face by the door and averted her eyes.

"Hmm. That's your sister right?" Kiba asked.

"Yeah, that's Hanabi."

"Hey Hanabi!" Kiba called.

Hanabi's face seemed to dissapear even more so behind the door. "H-he--" She could hardly speak out.

"Hnh. She did the same thing last time I talked to her. Well," he scratched the back of his head, "see ya at school tommorrow." He waved his goodbye and jogged away in the other direction.

Hinata trudged calmly into her house, as Hanabi closed the door behind her. Once the door was closed, Hinata was busy letting her eyes adjust to the darkened room when Hanabi spoke up.

"Is the Inuzuka boy your friend?"

Hinata turned to her sister,surprised. Hanabi's head was lowered which looked kind of unusual. "Um, well, he goes to my school."

"Really? Do you two hang out a lot? You guys friends or something?"

"Hanabi? Why are you asking?" Then something seemed to dawn on her, as though shining light into a dark room she couldn't see into before, but when she could finally see, it was the same room she's been in. "Do you like Kiba?" She breathed slightly.

Hanabi turned away abruptly and made to run away. Hinata reached out and grabbed her sister's arm forcefully. Hanabi slowly raised her face to Hinata's. What she saw was enough to cause Hinata to let go of her arm.

Tears were dripping out of her siblings eyes slowly. Then she nearly had the wind knocked out of her as Hanabi grabbed her about the waist tightly. Hanabi was actually hugging her!

"Hi-hinata! Father would hate me if he knew! Please don't tell!" She sobbed into Hinata chest.

The other girl stood uncomfortably, uncertain as to what to do. Then she slowly raised a hand and pet Hanabi's soft hair slowly. "I won't tell."

"Hinata? Why-why does it hurt then? I thought... It's not right! I'm stronger than this!" Hanabi's sobbing caused her voice to break a little.

"Hanabi..." Hinata just didn't know what to say. Even she didn't know why things had to be the way they were. "It's because were human, I suppose." Hanabi's bottled up emotions, her silence aroundthe family. Hinata was piecing things together and it felt like her eyes were seeing a little more clearly. She set her face in her sister's hair and inhaled to soft scent. "I just don't know..."

Hinata had her own problems. And Hanabi never treated Hinata the greatest before, acting like a brat, but... They were sisters. She couldn't let her sister suffer and sleep peacefully at night. Her problems with Shino and Neji could wait.

Family was first.

XXX

**Shizuru Speaks: When I wrote the last section of the interaction between Hinata and Hanabi I was listening to BoA's Everlasting, which is a very good song and the beat seemed to go with that part, so I suggest that to listen to. Right now I'm listening to some Nana Kitade. She is definitely one of my favorites, I have to say with BoA. Ahh, another chapter done though and I made good time on this one surprisingly! Anyways, thank you to all my loyal readers! You are what makes me willing to write more to this story every moment. So keep supporting me, and send reviews! I love to read what you have to say! Well, I'm off to write chapter four and probably do something else. Oh, and an entertaining new anime out is the Nerima Daikon Brothers. It's an anime musical but it's a hundred times better in English than Japanese in my opinion because the team in America was willing to poke fun of the series and themselves, more so than the Japanese team was. That and hearing Luci Christian, Greg Ayres and Chris Patton sing has made my day over and over again! I'm personally a big fan of the three but Patton's my favorite. Well, till next time!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hinata's Glasses**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**Genre: Drama**

**Rating: Teen**

**Summary: This takes place two months later from the last chapter. (Shiz: I'm so sorry this took so long! ;) Life isn't always like a story where all problems are solved perfectly. Hinata has fully avoided Shino now; having not been to work in a month and a half since she had went in to announce she quit. Her sister has thus avoided Hinata now like the plague as well, ashamed to having acted so foolishly. Neji never seemed to be a problem again and Kiba has become a pretty comfortable friend with Hinata. Everything seems to be in equilibrium but soon the floor will be pulled out from the young Hyuuga and when she falls, who will be there to catch her?**

**This chapter is the first of a few, Ino, Kiba and another classmate, Mitsuo, want her to play hooky and take the day off. Just what could happen anyway?**

**Chapter four: Hooky?!**

The wind rustled the trees causing them to shudder and shed some leaves. the sun was setting in the distance in beautiful hues of reds, pinks and purples. the fresh scent of flowers and grass permeated the air as warm breezes caressed those who were out in the wonderful waning daylight.

"It's so beautiful!" Hinata breathed. "The entire feel to this is so breathtakingly beautiful! But, why? Why did you bring me here?" She turned to the person next to her, curiously.

XXX

Yesterday.

After getting up and padding softly to the kitchen to prepare herself a bentou for lunch that day, Hinata bumped shoulders with her sister.

"What do you think you're doing! Watch it, bakamono!" Hanabi snarled.

Hinata jumped back and before she could stop herself, she bowed deeply. "Sorry sister." When she straightened herself from bowing her sister was already headed in the opposite direction. It was hard to believe that harsh little girl was her sister let alone confessed her feelings once.

Not even letting it bother her, Hinata continued on her way and even hummed a merry tune as she packed her satchel for school.

After trekking happily to school, she was quite surprised when a hand stopped her from opening the door the school. Her hand hovering over the bronze knob with a pale hand clutching her small wrist, she turned to the person.

"I-Ino?" she stuttered, the surprise still had not yet settled. "K-Kiba?"

She stared between the two and noticed another boy with them. She couldn't quite recall his name but knew they were in class together. He had dirty blonde hair that was quite messy with headband over his forehead that was a simple white cloth that had 'trouble' inscribed upon it in sloppy kanji. He could be mischievous but never on Naruto's level.

"Don't go in Hinata!" Ino grinned. "Oh," she seemed to remember, "and this is Mitsuo, he's in our class but he hangs out with Kiba more so I'm not sure if you know him."

"Just call me Mitsu." He smiled wildly and rubbed his forehead under the cloth. Hinata noted that his voice had some deep hints to it, like he was hitting puberty a little early. Closer, Hinata could see that he had a healthy tan and freckles were sprinkled over his nose lightly.

"Anyway, Hinata, you can't go in!" Kiba chipped in with Ino.

"Why not?"

The three exchanged glances. Then they turned back and replied in unison. "Play hooky with us!"

"What? Is that like tag or something?" Hinata blushed when the others laughed at her.

"No, no, silly! It's skipping school." Ino punched Hinata's shoulder lightly and playfully.

Hinata paled. "Wha-wha! You can't skip school! You'll get in trouble!"

"Course we can!" Mitsuo grinned.

"Naruto does it all the time" the Inuzuka said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, and he also get's in trouble guys." Hinata mumbled, wanting to get indoors.

"But not us! We're smarter than Naruto!" Ino smirked. "We our parents call us in sick."

"And," Mitsu added, "We took the liberty of telling Iruka that you had a stomach ache."

"Wha-wha-what!" Hinata barely managed to stutter that out as she was already being dragged away by her friends.

XXX

Hinata trudged alongside her friends, rather uncertain. Such an act of delinquency she had done by skipping school! what a dishonor! Her dad would be furious if he found out!

They had all changed into different clothing so that it would be less recognizable but still. Ino wore a orange hoodie and denim shorts, while Mitsu was sporting a dark blue jacket with an electric green stripe running up its sleeves. Kiba had foregone his usual coat for a navy blue t-shirt that looked like he might have stolen from Sasuke then ripped off the emblem on the back. Hinata felt somewhat uncomfortable as Ino had decided to put her in a lavender dress that had long sleeves and stopped above her knees. Hinata kept wanting to cover herself up. She felt so exposed!

Even with the costume change though, Hinata figured that is was still pretty obvious they were skipping school. If they're clothing didn't attract attention, like Ino's top and the neon stripes on Mitsu, people would still be able to see the ever happy Akamaru sticking out of Kiba's collar. Even when the pup ducked down in the shirt there was still a bulge and what idiot would fall for it if they said Kiba was just fat?

"Ah, here we go!" Ino stopped in front of a small shop. "Look, perfect for disguises!" She extended some sunglasses. She then paused and glanced at Hinata and her glasses. Hinata blushed.

"Here." Kiba came from around the sunglasses rack. "I think these will work." He handed Hinata some large aviators.

"Um, well..." They were strange to Hinata.

"Oh, they're cute! And they match your dress!" Ino said setting the glasses over Hinata's prescriptions. The large -and somewhat gaudy- sunglasses were dark and heart shaped with a thick plastic, lavender rim.

Mitsu walked up and examined them. "They're perfect!"

Kiba pointed to the mirror at the top of the rack. "See? They look good on you."

Hinata glanced at herself and gave a sharp intake of breath. This was the first time she really saw herself in the dress. The dress hugged tightly and loosely in all the right placed, giving her a nice form. A darker sash around her waist as a belt, hugged cutely to her, accenting her slender hips. And the sunglasses shaded her eyes and glasses completely and went along well with the dress.

Ino sighed and draped herself over Hinata's shoulder. "You like that movie star, Izumi Ikunari."

Mitsu burst in, leaning himself on the other side of her. "No, Hinata-chan looks better! Don't you agree Kiba?"

"Huh?" Kiba jumped and the rest of they're little group turned to him. He had an easily discernable blush on his cheeks. "Er, uh, ye-yeah, Hinata is very, uh, pretty." He twitched his hands a little nervously and reached instinctively to pet Akamaru, which seemed to calm his nerves.

Ino flashed a quick glance between the deeply blushing Hinata (her head could have been replaced by a tomato and one wouldn't be able to tell a difference) and Kiba who's blush was actually a little out of place on his normally assured face. She seemed to think for a moment then decided to cut the awkward pause.

"Well, check me out!" she turned about and deftly grabbed another pair of glasses and turned about quickly, striking a pose. "Aren't I the mirror image of Akari Haruna?"

Mitsu laughed. "If you look like Akari then I'm that one guy singer, what's-his-face, hyde!"

"Yeah right, you wish you had his looks!" Ino sneered and stuck her tongue out.

"No? Well..." He went around the rack to grab a pair of glasses of his own. "How about this?" He had pulled his hair away from his face and was wearing dark, rectangular sunglasses. He struck what he considered a manly pose. "I bet I look even better than Kyoue Yamagata!"

Ino gasped. "Kyoue is like, my fave actor!"

"Are you serious? He's just a pretty face! He can barely act his age much less in a movie." Mitsu responded.

Hinata watched the two argue a little and by now was done blushing. She giggled lightly. Mitsu and Ino got along quite well. She couldn't understand why Ino would still like Sasuke so much when she seemed to have such a close friend right here.

"Um, Hinata?"

"Wah!" Hinata jumped and grabbed at her heart that nearly broke through her rib cage.

"Oh, sorry! Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!" Kiba rubbed the back of his head embarrassedly. "I was, I mean, I just, well..." he smiled peacefully and sighed as though he had just comes to terms with himself. "I just want you to know I really do think you look nice today if what I said earlier didn't come out quite right."

Hinata smiled back sweetly, suppressing her heart that was beating too fast for it's own good. "Oh, uh, thank you very much!" She turned away abruptly after and her eyes widened. She felt her face burn and tried to collect herself. For some reason she was almost, well the closest term would be, scared of what Kiba would say. Then when he told her she looked nice her heart pounded insanely and she felt as though not enough blood was going into her head.

Then her heart ached a little. She quickly suppressed the thought that followed.

_I wish Kiba was Naruto right about now..._

No! That was... that was almost rude to think _that_. Hinata shook herself. She quickly shivered and rubbed the goose bumps that ran over her arms under her sleeves as another thought hit her.

She could hear that sly voice sneer and hold hints of a snicker.

_Or maybe you wish it was Shino. Why don't you make up your mind about whom you like? You're so promiscuous, Hinata. Next you'll have a crush on Mitsu, 'cause I bet you already have one on Ki-_

Hinata shook herself again. That angry voice scared her and now wasn't the time to let it get to her. To distract herself, she pulled out her small wallet from her small side satchel and rifled through it looking for some ryo to pay for the sunglasses.

"Oh no." Ino appeared over Hinata's shoulder. "Don't you think it would be more polite if the boys paid for us?" she spoke slyly and glanced over to Kiba and Mitsu who were comparing sunglasses together.

"I heard that!" Mitsuo interjected. "Pay for yerself, Ino!"

"Hey, why don't you be a gentleman and pay for me anyway?" Ino sneered.

"Cause gentlemen only serve ladies and you are so not a lady!" Mitsu stuck his tongue out and wagged it.

Ino abruptly stuck her tongue out as well and pulled down one eyelid with a finger. "Yeah, well you're no gentleman anyways!"

"Um... I-I can pay for myself... it's okay..." Hinata managed to squeak out.

Kiba sidled up to the short girl's side. "Come on, Hinata let's go pay for our sunglasses at the counter. I think Ino and Mitsuo are busy." Hinata nodded and smiled weakly. She really would have felt bad if someone had paid for her. She shifted through her wallet once more and finely found eight hundred ryo, a couple of the bills were a little battered and looked as though they had seen better days.

Paying for their sunglasses they head back to the where Ino Mitsuo were still fighting. By now Ino had Mitsu in a headlock and Mitsuo had positioned a foot behind Ino's leg, ready to topple her.

"Uh... guys...?"

Kiba cut off Hinata's quiet words and interjected in a way that almost made him sound like Iruka-sensei. "Stop flirting and let's get a move on!"

Ino and Mitsuo similarly blushed and separated.

"I thought that would work." Kiba snickered to Hinata as Akamaru whined as though he too wanted a move on. Kiba down turned his face to the little fuzz ball and set something over his face. "Check it out. I got Akamaru here some glasses too!"

Hinata giggled and Mitsuo laughed as Ino bent to pet Akamaru. Kiba then turned to the rest and set his sunglasses on. "Well, you guys ready? I was thinking about hitting a theater to see that new horror, _Hira Hira Choucho._"

Hinata felt a little startled seeing Kiba's glasses glinting in the light. They were the same as the kind Shino wore. She turned her head away ashamed. She still felt really bad about quitting all of a sudden -the look on the manager's face kind of hurt- she felt like she let the manager down. Especially Shino. She felt so bad about that.

She couldn't figure out why it hurt so much. It was weird. When she told him she was quitting, all he had said was "Hm." and then turned about to start work. He didn't even turn back to see if she was still there or if she left. At school it was the same old indifference as before but... She remembers shedding a few tears at home after she had quit but when Hanabi had caught her sniffling, she stopped. Hanabi just stared uncomfortably for a second then walked away with red on her face, obviously not wanting to be rude for once.

Shino's coldness, his _indifference_, had hurt so much.

_But you deserve it for letting him down._

"... I don't think Hinata will want to see a crummy horror movie! Why don't we see that new romance, _Hibiscus Bloom_?" Ino whined.

"Gross! That's a girly movie. I say that action packed movie,_ Ninja and Samurai 2: Bloody Vengeance_. The last movie was sooooo cool!" Mitsuo perked in.

"_Hira Hira_!"

"_Hibiscus Bloom_!"

"_NS2_!"

"Enough!" Kiba finally burst. He turned to Hinata, is glasses had fallen further down the bridge of his nose and he looked over them at Hinata. "Why don't we let Hinata pick? After all, we did kinda drag her from school before getting her permission." He gave Ino and Mitsuo a scalding look -even though he supported Ino's idea to drag Hinata along- as Ino and Mitsuo simultaneously blushed.

"Er... Well, I couldn't! I-I-I!" she stammered embarrassedly.

"We insist." Ino smiled placidly.

Hinata glanced between her friends embarrassedly. "Well, um... I have been looking forward to the foreign film, _Eden Earth_. I heard it was a really good sci fi from the western world. I don't remember what country exactly..."

"Done." Mitsu smiled. "Sounds good to me."

The others agreed unanimously.

"Well, what'aya waiting for? Let's go!" Kiba barked out happily as Akamaru woofed in agreement.

**Next Chapter: Hinata and her friends head to the movie where Hinata sees some things that open her eyes a little to her own life. What could this movie possibly teach her, and when am I going to tell you whom she was with in the beginning of the chapter? You'll just have to wait and find out next time **

**I'm in radio and broadcasting and we're doing radio plays so I suddenly got into the habit of putting those, "and next week we have" all of a sudden. By the way, sorry if this chapter isn't up to par with my last chapters but I think the next two or three should sum up this certain "story arc" I suppose it could be called**

**Shizuru speaks: Well how did you feel about the opening? I'm not telling who it is until the next chapter so if you're real curious you'll have to stick around. Also, I want a chance to apologize for not writing in a while. I've been kind of stressed because of the whole, "I'm graduating next year, ohmigod, what if I don't walk!" kind of phobia has struck and paralyzed me for a while. It is a kind of stupid fear though, now that I've had time to reflect. I do love receiving your reviews and knowing that you're loyal enough to stick through me with this story. (cries) You guys are so great! As long as I keep getting your support I'll keep trying to write more and more for this! I'm still not certain whether or not to have her without her glasses before the end of the year so it goes with the Naruto series or to have her wear them even later on. Maybe she could still have them or something.**

**Special Note To My Readers!!!**

**I would like it very much if all of you could give me suggestions for later chapters of Hinata's Glasses. The main reason why it takes so long to update is lack of ideas, so please, let your brain juices flow and pass along some ideas I can morph into a chapter! Be assured I will dedicate that chapter to you, so you can see that you have a special chapter for yourself I'll look forward to your support!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hinata's Glasses**

**Chapter 5: Sad Ending?**

Hinata and co had to sneak into the movie theater, which did make her uncomfortable but as Ino had reasoned with her, there was no way they could have got in otherwise. A, the group didn't want to pay for the movie, and B, no one would buy that they were old enough to be out of school where they belonged. They slipped up to the front row in the dark, Hinata tripped up a little and Kiba caught her from behind to help her catch her footing. Meanwhile Ino attempted to trip up Mitsuo but failed and Mitsuo pushed Ino into her seat snickering. Once the group stopped goofing off and settled into their seats Hinata slipped her sunglasses off to see better in the dim theater. She sat wedged between Ino and Kiba, and with Ino to her left sat Mitsuo.

Not interested in the screen proclaiming ads for the theater's concessions, Ino and Mitsuo were engaged in an intense conversation, only a few giggles were what Hinata could hear. When she felt a soft tap on her shoulder she jumped involuntarily.

"Oh, sorry didn't mean to scare you." Kiba mumbled softly. Had they not had been sitting so close; Hinata wouldn't have heard him over the sudden blaring announcement on the screen about this theater having the best nachos around. Hinata turned to look at him her heart's pounding slowing to calm. She saw Akamaru had settled himself on Kiba's lap, doing a quick triple turn before settling himself. Kiba pet Akamaru somewhat nervously. "So, uhh," Hinata never heard Kiba stumble over his own words so much before "I was wondering, uh, why did you want to see this movie?"

"Eden Earth?" Hinata asked, pushing her glasses up her nose. "Well, I heard about it and was curious. I did hear it had a sad ending though. Maybe I'm just in the mood for sad." Hinata smiled a little, it was the truth, and what with her mood of the late she probably wouldn't be able to handle a happy ending.

"I never understood that." Kiba sighed and rest his back in the chair and set his hands behind his head. He then fiddled with the sunglasses he had set upon his head causing a stray strand of hair to slip and end up before his face.

Before Hinata could stop herself she had pushed the stray strand of hair back under the sunglasses, leaving his face clear. "Oh!" she sudden said in shock and tried to pull her hand away as though she scalded herself but was stopped by Kiba's hand suddenly gripping her wrist to hold her still. She began to turn red when Kiba's face began to swim before her eyes.

"Aww, how cute! You guys make a sweet couple." Ino giggled and bat her eyes happily as Mitsuo peered around her.

Hinata and Kiba both jumped and quickly faced in opposite directions. But Hinata could see his face before he turned away and noticed that the red markings on his cheeks seemed to disappear in the blood rush of his face.

"Don't stop on account of us." Ino giggled again. Hinata felt that if the sticky dirty floor of the theater could eat her up, she wouldn't mind the stickiness if she could just stop the embarrassment from flooding her face.

Luckily the theater darkened and previews began flashing on the screen. Unfortunately she couldn't see the screen due to the steamy film on her glasses. She pulled them off and reached for the hem of the skirt and lifted it to start cleaning. If she could have seen she would have saw Kiba's eyes bug out of his head when he snuck a glance back at her.

"Err, Hinata, let me do that." He mumbled and reached for her glasses.

"Huh, why?"

"Um, just 'cause." He kept his hand out resolutely. Hinata didn't realize that the skirt was so short that when she pulled it up to wipe her glasses she was revealing far too much thigh. Kiba kept his eyes averted and waited for the waited of plastic and glass in his hand. Once he had them he pulled up his shirt and began to wipe them with vigor. And then…

"Oops…"

"Eh, 'oops' what?" Hinata asked nervously.

"N-nothing!" Kiba smiled unreassuringly and went back to the frames frantically. He had accidently popped out a lens and was now trying to figure out how to get the darn thing back into the frame. After a moment he sighed in relief when the glass slipped back into place. "Heh, all better." It was hard to do it in the dark but he felt relieved. He turned in his seat and smiled genuinely now. "Here you go Hinata." He delicately slipped the glasses back on her face.

"Oh, thank you Kiba." She then turned to watch the previews clearly now.

After nearly twenty minutes of previews to movie started. The opening scene of space was breathtakingly beautiful. All the sparkling stars…

The story revolved around a girl who joined the military to fly a star fighters met up with an officer who mentored her through the course till they became very close. However once the woman recognized her feelings as love she became frightened knowing that punishment was severe between romances between enlisted and officers so she resigned from her post and changed her career option to work in engineering to be as far away from the man she desired. Of course there was a huge space battle and due to her heroic actions during the battle she was congratulated and felt the confidence then to join the officer training corp. after she achieved the rank of First Lieutenant she decided that then was the perfect time to find her love again.

Before the big BUT could continue Hinata got up and left the show as quickly as she could. Maybe a sad movie wasn't the best idea after all. She didn't want to continue the story because she feared what was waiting for the fresh Lieutenant on her path back to her love. It wasn't going to be anything good. She felt the flutter of butterflies in her stomach feeling close to the girl in the movie. Of course her decision wasn't as noble to never see that boy again but- the butterflies stirred faster reaching her head- she didn't want to see what sad ending had reached the woman because part of her feared that maybe she was quickly approaching her own sad ending.

"Hinata, are you okay?" Kiba came from the double doors, concern on his face.

Hinata mumbled, "… too late for a happy ending…"

"H-hey are you alright, seriously?" he reached out and wiped away the tear that she didn't notice were slipping down her cheeks. "Why don't we sit this movie out?" he took her by the shoulders and led her to a set of benches just outside of the theater showing their film.

Once they were seated they both remain in silence, Kiba not wanting to pry and Hinata not wanting to confide her feelings. After about ten minutes Ino and Mitsuo came out both wiping tears from their eyes.

"That was just the saddest movie I've seen in a long time." Ino bawled wiping her tears on Mitsu's jacket.

"Hey, hey, hey! Just because it was sad doesn't mean you can wipe yourself on _my_ clothes!" he wiped away a tear furtively.

Then the couple noticed Kiba and Hinata. "You picked a good movie Hinata. Was it too depressing for you two though?" Ino asked curiously.

"Yeah, I didn't want you guys to catch me crying so Hinata came to sit out with me." Kiba said smiling.

"Hmm. Yeah good thing, there isn't anything more pathetic than a boy crying in a movie." Ino laughed pointing at Mitsuo.

"Hey, I told you I just got dust in my eyes is all!" Mitsuo shoved his hands in his sweater's pockets defiantly. Ino then pulled his arm out of its pocket and glanced at the wrist.

"Hmm, class is out. Maybe we should go our separate ways, eh?" Ino smiled at Hinata. "Well, I'll see you around." She began to head off when Mitsuo called out for her to hold up so he could walk her home. It was probably the first time Hinata saw Ino blush.

"Hmm. That's a good idea; you want me to walk you home too?" Kiba asked turning to the quiet Hyuuga girl next to him.

"Yeah, why not." Hinata conceded and stood delicately.

The walk home was uneventful and Kiba said his parting goodbye before her household's door and walked away, glancing back at her a little.

Once indoors Hinata made the quick decision that the rock garden would be the best place to cool her overworked and heated mind. The route to the rock garden took her through the lower-class Hyuuga halls and not paying any attention she bumped into something hard and slick with water.

"Watch yourself, Miss Hinata." Hinata then looked up to see Neji before her looking rather annoyed to have been bumped into. "What are you doing stalking the halls of the cadet branch housing?"

Hinata quickly took in that the other Hyuuga stood confidently rubbing a towel through his damp hair. He was topless and slick with water as though he'd just taken a shower after perhaps an intense training session or mission with his team. This was one of the few times Hinata could clearly see the curse seal on his forehead. She quickly averted her eyes from both Neji's angry eyes and seal mark. So instead she stared at the space beneath the neck between the collarbones.

"I'm very sorry brother Neji." She tried to sidestep her cousin for him to block her by moving in front of her. She tried to head left then only for him to step before her again. They repeated this once more then Hinata, frustrated just stopped. "What do you want?"

"Where are you going?" he stopped wiping his hair and calmly wiped his wet arms with his towel.

"None of your business." Hinata tried once more to sidestep her taller cousin.

Neji calmly continued to wipe himself off. Hinata noticed that he was also eyeing her up and down. That was when she realized how uncomfortably short the skirt of the dress was. She tried to push the bottom of the dress down with her fists unsuccessfully.

"I haven't seen you in a dress in a long time." Hinata glanced back at Neji's face. There was something besides anger or hate in his eyes for once. He seemed to be reminiscing something intensely. "Have you been crying?"

"Eh?" she glanced down her dress and saw some stains from where tears hit the lavender turning it a dark orchid. "N-none of your business." She repeated not quite as confidently.

When Neji took a step forward, she involuntarily took a step back. He stopped and set the towel over his shoulder. This time he slowly extended his hand and Hinata this time froze. He set his fingers under her chin turning her face upwards so she'd meet his eyes; he frowned when Hinata instead stared at his curse seal instead. The gentleness of his face was quickly replaced by his typical anger and he roughly shoved away from him into the wall at his left. Hinata hit the wall but stayed standing, and stared blankly at him as he turned and stomped away. After he turned a corner and was out of her sight, she turned herself and also walked away, continuing to head to the rock garden. Now she really did have to meditate.

**Shizuru speaks: It took me forever to bring my fingers to my computer to type this chapter and it's apparent as to how long I've been away by the poor quality of this chapter, but all well, at least it's been typed. And in case it was confusing about Neji's attitude I'll explain. When he saw Hinata in the pretty purple dress he flashbacked to when they had first been introduced and how he thought she was pretty in her kimono dress. He also remembered the feeling of wanting to be protective of her when he saw her tear stains. When he approached he might have hugged if she didn't step away, and then when he just wanted her to look at his eyes for sincerity she stared at his curse seal which brought him back to earth roughly and violently, reminding him of his anger revolving around the way the family was set up and he was also angry at himself for his moment of weakness. Hinata just brings out the interesting part of everybody around her. Sorry about not revealing the part at the beginning of the last chapter, that'll come soon. I love you my readers and I'm sorry I took so long took write this chapter. Forgive me! **


	6. NOTICE!

Notice:

I have a deviantart now and I'm going to be adding pictures for "Hinata's Glasses" onboard. I might even make it into a doujin that I'll post there. If there's a scene you want in particular to illustrate just send a review or message with your request and I'd be happy to try and draw it. ^_^

Love to you all!

Christine

shizurukun(dot)deviantart(dot).com/

Hinata's Glasses Cover

shizurukun(dot)deviantart(dot)com/art/Hinata-s-Glasses-115826204


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